Duarte Barral, Principal Investigator of the Membrane Traffic in Infection and Disease Lab, explains to Antena 2 the eternal battle between microorganisms and the immune system of the hosts, one of the focuses of his research.

In a long-standing coexistence, microorganisms, such as parasites and bacteria, have developed mechanisms to avoid their destruction by the “defence weapons” of the immune system, mainly phagocytosis, the immune system’s first line of defence. The co-evolution of microorganisms and hosts allows the researchers to better understand the molecular mechanisms of immune cells by studying the infection mechanisms of microorganisms, as the researcher explains.

In studying these mechanisms, Duarte Barral and his team seek not only to study the cells of the immune system, but also to find new therapeutic targets for infectious diseases, still without a cure.